Abstract
The physiological mechanism of auditory temporal masking was studied by single-unit analysis in the cat's cochlear nucleus and inferior colliculus. Forward masking was found at the levels of both the cochlear nucleus and the inferior colliculus; the mechanism can be explained by the phenomena of postexcitatory inhibit on and synaptic inhibition. Backward masking may involve central processes because it was not demonstrable in the cochlear nucleus. At the midbrain collicular region, it was found that there were three modes that could explain backward masking.
